Fallout Gothic – New Vegas
by gothicjedi666
Summary: I'm sure that everyone knows what my stories are about by now. But here's another one caused by me spending the whole weekend playing New Vegas.
1. Chapter 1

**Fallout Gothic – New Vegas – Part 1**

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wastelands. **

It was only once I left Doc Mitchell's house that the shock had started to wear off and while he'd declared me to be far healthier than any one who had been shot in the head had right to be I couldn't help but feel that there was something very wrong with me.

I mean other than the fact that I was somehow in a video game. I'd partly dealt with that issue and while I was far from happy about it I'd managed to accept it, although the sedatives had helped a lot with that. Granted I'd likely have a major freak out a some point and given the amount of guns around her it would no doubt be messy, but for now I was staying calm and in control.

No the feeling was more to do with me personal rather than a change in my surroundings, and the feeling wasn't about my physical changes either. It had been freaky enough to discover that I'd lost weight, but it was weirder still to gain muscles while you're in a coma because generally you don't make yourself fitter and stronger by lying on a bed for the better part of a week. Also my eyes had somehow fixed themselves I even felt more balanced that before and I seemed to have a lot more energy.

However all of that seemed minor in comparison to the big changes. It was hard to explain but the real changes were somehow in my mind. I felt... well if I had to put into words I would say that I felt smarter, more charismatic and even luckier. Although how I would know that I was more prone to good fortune was a bit of a mystery to me, but then given that I had been shot in the head and somehow survived it was safe to say that I was a lucky son of a bitch.

Pushing aside the thoughts I decided that first of all I was going to get out of this heat. Their was a saloon nearby and the doc had mentioned something about getting help from... well I'd either forgotten her name or hadn't been paying attention. But I knew where she was so hopefully she'd introduce herself. I could at least remember where to find the woman, that was something at least and the saloon would at least provide me with some shade.

As I started to move I took in all the details around in me in such a way that I guessed that it meant that I had a good perception score on my stats. Not that people had stats in real life but if they did I must of gotten good one because my eye sight had never been this good and I'd never been able to take in my surroundings at this level.

I could see quite far into the distance, not that there was much to see unless one like looking at the many different shades of brown, and I also saw or rather didn't see the lack of plants. Which might explain the lack of insects as well. Hopefully this extended to things like lice and knits because they were the last thing I wanted to deal with, but sadly I wouldn't be able to avoid them. Well not unless I found some really good repellent.

As I went by the general store I considered stopping in to see what I could buy but I hardly had any caps, but that didn't suck as much as could have because at least I had a gun and the clothes on my back. There would be plenty of people around here with less than that so I was grateful for the little that I had.

Thinking about that reminded me to check out the pieces of paper I had on my person. As expect there was the delivery order for the chip and a piece of paper that seemed to serve as some sort of company I.D which told me that my name was Gothic.

That was an odd name, but hey it could have been a lot worse and I could always just give people a different name. Anyway it wasn't as if I'd be asked for ID if I wanted a drink or be pulled over my the police so they could check my diver's license.

The Prospector Saloon was pretty much as the game had shown it to be. Half of it was boarded so it looked like it hadn't open for the better part of a decade and the other was bathed in light. There was even the sign that declared it to open twenty-fours a day, so I decided to test the sign by trying to get myself a drink.

As soon as I entered the bar a dog barked and got the attention of the animal's owner who happened to be the very woman I had been seeking.

After saying hi she asked me if I would sticking around for a while. That was a question not easily answered because I really no idea what I was going to do with myself.

I knew what the character of the game could do, but I wasn't motivated to go chasing after Benny. After all the guy had shot me once, so he would likely do so again if given the chance and really it hadn't been me he'd been gunning for anyway since it was Platinum Chip that he'd been after. I was not willing to put my life on the line just so Mr House could upgrade his security robots, nor was I enthusiastic about getting involved with the war between those Legion thugs and NCR.

"The Doc said that you could teach me to survive in the desert".

That was at least a sensible goal and it didn't require me to commit to anything, and hopefully it would be free because I really didn't want to try and earn caps by salvaging in the wastelands. At least not until after I'd done the survival training.

"Meet me outback, behind the saloon" decided Sunny, whose name I now remembered.

For a moment just then I'd wondered if she'd refuse because she'd looked at me as if she'd been sizing me up, perhaps she'd just been thinking that I might not be worth training and she was right to think that as it would be a big waste of her time to go to all the trouble of teaching me how to shoot only to see me get myself killed due to my own stupidity. In the end what I guessed to be her good nature must of won out, although in her shoes.. or boots in this case.. I might not of bothered, but she was obliviously a better person that me.

Deciding not to waste what could be another example of my good fortune. I followed the lightly armoured American out of the saloon to were she had set up a makeshift firing range. It was just a fence with some bottles perched upon it but given that I'd never fired a gun before this was much more sensible a way to start than some games had to offer.

"Now see those bottles over there?".

Well yeah they were pretty hard to miss given that they had been neatly arranged and given that there were marks in the wall behind them that had been clearly made made by bullets missing their target it was pretty clear what this place was for.

"Take this gun and shoot a couple of them".

Now while that sounded simple enough, it really wasn't as I had never fired a real gun before and while I was a decent shot in most video games I knew enough about firearms to know that simulations do next to nothing to prepare you for the real thing. Still at least I knew the theory. You just had to aim at your target and squeeze the trigger.

As it turned out it really wasn't that simply, the recoil made my whole body jerk and while I did make new hole on the wall between two of the bottles the space my bullet has passed through in order to make that very small impact crater, hadn't been very close to were I had been aiming.

It was rather embarrassing really, but my teacher didn't comment as I pulled back on the little handle that would ready the shot. In my view this was likely due to the fact that she must of expected me to miss and therefore felt no need to comment on it. Instead she just moved over to me and adjusted my stance so that I could better deal with the recoil when I next fired the rifle.

Had I not been so focused on what I was suppose to be doing I might of spent some time wondering if her correction of my stance had really needed her to touch me so much, but I didn't allow myself the luxury of such idle thoughts as I had much to learn and I might not have a lot of time for these lessons as given how dangerous it could be around here it was almost certain that I would need these skills soon rather than later.

My next shot didn't miss, but I didn't let pride distract me and I kept firing.

After figuring out how to reload, which was not that complex, I fired another five shots an act that told me that the gun in my hand was Varmint Rifle. I had no what the word 'Varmint' meant, but it was to know as it would help me to find replacement parts for the weapon.

"That's the thing to do, look down the sights".

Firing off a few more shots I got to a point where I could actually what I was aiming for with a least fifty percent chance of hitting it.

"Try crouching down, it'll help your aim" suggested Sunny

After doing as I was told. I held my breathe for the next shot and took careful aim as I firmly squeezed the trigger. I was even able to handle the recoil better and best of all my shot didn't miss. I did this and found that I could now aim rather well. In fact it was easy even when I stood back up again. I seemed to have found a hidden skill of mine, and even better it was a skill that was actually useful.

"Well that's a start, but I reckon that you didn't come to me to learn how to fight sasprilla bottles".

Feeling somewhat cocky I couldn't help but make a little joke.

"No, but at least now if the bottles do ever revolt you know that I'll be able handle it".

Okay so it wasn't that funny, but it got a smile from the lady, and that was enough for now.

"Anyway, tell you what. I gotta go chase some geckos from our water supply".

Only the fact that I could clearly remember that the geckos in the world of Fallout New Vegas were horrible monsters and not harmless lizards you could keep as pets stopped me from finding the idea of shooting them as being needless crudity to animals.

"Darn critters are attracted to it. Don't know why".

Well perhaps it had something to with that fact that water was hard to find in a desert, and even if they had another supply they'd still stake out that supply because creatures they liked to eat would be drawn to the water.

"So, why don't you come along?".

I was more than a little startled by the idea that I was being asked to aid in such an important task, as while that did happen in the game it was rather odd for an expert hunter, which I assumed Sunny was, to invite a novice along on such a hunt. Granted this was more like pest control that real hunting, but really at this point I would just get in the way.

"I don't think I'm ready for that" I argued "what if I accidentally shoot you or what if there's more out there than geckos".

Yeah like Radscorpions or Deathclaws, or Feral Ghouls, or Super Mutants or Raiders … well that list could go on for a while.

"You'll be fine. Just aim and shoot. I'll be behind you anyway".

I was about repeat my last set of thought only using words when it suddenly struck me that was a hit of loneness in Sunny's voice. I had no idea if she had any friends or family as the only other living thing I'd seen her talk to was her pet dog. Me well I was more of a cat person, but I knew enough about dogs to know that they were kept around for companionship. Although given how down right dangerous it could be around here having a canine with you could also be a matter of survival. Still you couldn't get everything from a dog that you could get from another human being and if you could well some of that stuff would be illegal, well at least it had been back in my time.

"Okay, I'm in" I decided.

If nothing else I needed the practice and would be a good idea to get my first real taste if action with someone at my side as that would greatly increase my chances of not being killed and then either looted or eaten.. or possible both if I met a cannibal.

"Great. Follow me. Its just down the south-east a short ways".

Her accent made her sentence structure very strange. Then again I didn't sound as British as I use to sound which was a shame as American girls do love that accent.

What followed was a brisk run to a place not as far as I thought it would be, but it was far enough that I should gotten out of breath. The fact that I was even slightly winded by the run made me start to wonder if someone... or perhaps even something.. had taken the time to repair the damage years of smoking would of caused to my lungs.

Suddenly Sunny's canine friend Cheyenne barked and the growled which I guessed was the mutts way of saying 'Hey humans danger is close' or words to that effect.

Sunny signalled me over to her and said.

"Hear that on the ridge over there".

I hadn't but I nodded anyway and was rather impressed that she had as I couldn't hear anything at all.

"We've got gecko to clear out".

I really hoped that was the case as I simply wasn't prepared for anything worse.

"Bunch of little monsters is what they are. Seems like Doc Mitchell treats more gecko bites than anything else".

Well yeah as it wasn't as if people got shot in the head everyday and then lived long enough to get medical treatment, so it was easy to imagine that the doctor spent most of his time treating animal bites. Which was actually a spot of luck for him as there were much worse things a physician could end up dealing with. In fact given that this was post-apocalyptic radioactive hell-hole filled with thousand different horrors that wanted to kill people then really animal bites were not such a big deal.

"Let's see if we can get a little closer. If we move quietly we can get the jump on em".

With Sunny in the led we both crept around a big rock and then the woman signalled for me to make the opening shot.

This opportunity to shine gave me my first sight of one of the many things I was sure to encounter that would like to take a bite of the tender meat that was me. The geckos looked a lot larger in real life and I had to force myself not to slowly back away. It wasn't that I was scared, because amazingly I wasn't it was just that my mind having trouble processing what it was that I was seeing.

"Okay you're on, give em hell" said Sunny, trying to encourage me.

I had been given the chance to take my time and make a good shot but sadly my stealth provided to be insufficient, and one of the horrid creatures spotted me.

"Come on!" Sunny shouted as if it was a war cry.

We quickly abandoned the whole sneaky aspect of today's hunt and we went on to open fire. I missed but she didn't and the gecko went down, its blood staining the dry ground as it sprayed out from a nasty head shot.

That little monster was soon followed by some of its pack mates and this time I got one right in the belly. It simply dropped to the ground and died, which was good but I hadn't thought that killing something would that simple, either emotionally or physically. In both respect it had been rather easy and even a little fun.

The third overgrown lizard, or perhaps small dinosaur would be a better description, came at us from a different angle than the others.

I spotted it first and open fired. I hit but this time the shot didn't kill and the creature kept coming despite its wound. To my credit I didn't panic, instead I held my breathe, fired again and downed the beast.

"See your getting the hang of it" said Sunny.

Indeed I was. In fact I was starting to see that things here weren't so bad. There spots of green out here and the things that wanted to eat my yummy internal organs, could be killed rather easily as long as you didn't panic and could aim a gun.

"There's two more wells that still need clearing" Sunny informed me. "You can come with me. Be worth a few caps".

I could sense real eagerness in her tone so either she enjoyed teaching, or she was starting to enjoy my company. Either way that was good for me as I still needed to learn how to survive and the offer of caps was also good.

"Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes" she assured me "especially with two of us".

Soon we were off again and I was already lost, but I wasn't worried as Sunny didn't seem the type to leave a guy out the wilderness. She'd at least point me in right direction or better yet walk me back. Granted the Pipboy on my wrist could also guide me that but why not take the chance to spend time with a pretty girl if you can manage it.

At our next stop with had a tense few seconds when three geckos charged at us from out of no where. I took down one, so did Sunny and luck favoured me again when Cheyenne took down the last gecko, who had gotten a little closer to me than I would of liked, the dog's strong jaw gripped the lizard and tore out the creature's throat. A messy but effective way of dealing with unwanted wildlife.

During our next short battle we managed to save the life of one of the locals. Which was a good thing in my mind as it wouldn't do me any harm to have one of the natives in my debt.

"Holy moly. If you hadn't come here like you'd done, I'd be a goner for sure".

Now that was an American accent. Already I pitted the stupid sounding woman and I took a moment to wonder if some yanks ever made themselves sound idiotic so people would underestimate them or it could be that I was just a Middle Class snob.

"I cam up her to draw water, but here you should have what I got. You look thirsty".

Despite the fact that I was feeling rather dry I nearly denied the offer as I was feeling smug and heroic, but then I remembered that I was in a desert and that made drinking water very important.

Once that pleasant encounter was over I went back over to Sunny in order to hear anything she had to say.

"Now that was some good work" she complemented "even got a little exciting there at the end".

That wasn't what I would call it. I'd call life threatening peril, but for her this rather more every day.

"Here's a little spending money for the trouble".

Bottle caps. In my old life I'd of thrown these away without thought, but now they were worth their weight in gold.

"One more thing I want to show you" Sunny mentioned.

Shame it wasn't going to be her in the shower, but I'd take what I could get.

"I'd thought I'd teach you about living off the land and making useful things for yourself. Interested?"

"Sure" was my reply.

She seemed less overjoyed about this part, perhaps because there would be no shooting this time.

"We'll need a couple of ingredients to get started".

The sort list she gave me were of plants that had names that meant nothing to me, but she was the expert so I followed her led.

"Lemme think now... I know I've seen Broc flower growing up at the graveyard. And I seem to remember their being Xander Root over by the school house".

She paused to look around before saying.

"Bring those back to me, and we'll get cooking".

Sometimes I really hated tutorials, but it was hard to say no to the cute red head who looked so good in leather.

Finding the schoolhouse was easy enough. I simply got the road and went north. The Pipboy had a handy compass and automapping feature that I figured I would be very grateful for soon enough.

The Xander Root was easy enough to find, the only trouble I had picking it came from the giant bugs.. well they weren't exactly big by the standards of humans but for insects they were way too big. I didn't bother to shoot them as they turned out to die just as easily as there smaller cousins and as I crushed them under my boots the only downside was, aside from dirty shoe, was how much they made my skin crawl.

On my way to what had very nearly been my final resting place I encountered an oversized scorpion, thankfully the smaller bark type rather than the rad type, and at the graveyard I had to use my new shooting skills again to deal with a group of bloatflys.

At this point it would be quite understandable if I started loath everything that wasn't a mammal, but then I recalled that the humans around here were actually worse then the flying or crawling things and decided to save my hate for something more worthy of it.

Next I went on the harvest the Broc flower and spent a moment or two wondering why it had a masculine name. Most flowers have girl's name that or the girls are named after the pretty plants but I formed no conclusions and soon decided that I really didn't care enough to bother finding out. After all I did have a lot of other important things to think about, but at least the thoughts distracted me from the shallow grave that had been mine for a while.

I really didn't want to think about that, and who could blame me. Seeing your own is just really morbid.

With the plants collected it was time to return to Sunny for the final lesson of the day. Hopefully she would have more to teach me, but I wouldn't pester her about that until tomorrow as aside from not wanting to make myself a pain in her good looking ass I also had to figure out where I was going to sleep and I needed to get some my hands on some food.

Finding Sunny was just a matter of retracing my steps, but it did take a while and by the time I got back to the woman it had started to get dark. It was also getting cold so I was very glad that she had started a fire.

"Let's see what you got" she by way of greeting "Yeah these'll do just fine".

Of that I was also glad as I really didn't fancy trying to find more of the plants in the dark, as not only would they be hard to find but also it would be dangerous to look for them what with the hungry wildlife and rough terrain.

"All right now. We're going to be making something folks on the trail call healing powder".

Not hard to guess what that did.

"Go on over to the camp fire now".

Sunny explained how to turn the plants into a powder that would supposedly help to heal wounds, but I was somewhat nervous about ever applying it.

"Hey that's not bad. All it takes is the right ingredients and a recipe".

I was pretty that this was actually the secret to baking, but again she was the expert.

"We'll I hope that's enough to get you started" she said ending the lesson.

That was the end of the teaching but not the end of the meeting. While I'd been gathering what was needed for an experience in alternative medicine. Sunny had cleaned, skinned and the cooked one of the geckos, she also freely shared the bounty of the hunt with me. Which was fair as I killed my share of the edible little creatures

Neither of said anything, there wasn't much to say and that was a bit of a shame as I was sure she'd of found my stories very interesting and while they wouldn't be that believable they all would have been true.

"I'm heading back now. Its getting late... you could come with me if you want".

The pause clued me into the fact that she didn't just mean that she would go with me back into town. She was in fact inviting me to her bed. That wasn't an offer that I would say no to even I had another place to sleep.

"Led the way" was my reply.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fallout Gothic – New Vegas – Part 2**

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wastelands. **

When I awoke the next morning I discovered that Sunny was already up and very sadly for me she was already dressed. In fact judging by the dust on her clothing and that she had her gun slung over her shoulder it was pretty clear that she'd not only gotten up before me but that she also been out. I couldn't guess what she had up to, but I didn't care to find out.

She also seemed to be making an effort not to notice that I was in her sorry excuse for a bed. I quickly guessed that she had a sort of use them and lose them approach to sex with men. That would explain the lack of kissing even though she had wanted to cuddle, it could have been due to cold rather than the desire for any comfort. It also made sense as life was cheap here so why get attached to a guy who could not only move on tomorrow but also be dead.

Not wanting to overstay my welcome I quickly got dressed into the not so stylise jump suit that the doc had given me and as I was about to leave Sunny finally said something.

"Hey do me a favour. Trudy – she's the bartender up at the prospect, kind of the town mum – she likes to met newcomers.

Seemed like a smart plan to me. Bartenders are often a good source of information and trying to make new friends was also a good idea.

"She'd be cross with me if I didn't get you to poke your head in and say hi".

Also it wouldn't hurt my chances to score with the red head again if I did her this small favour.

"Sure".

With that I left and once more started to wonder what the hell I was going to do with myself now that I wasn't so worried about surviving.

Well whatever it was I was going to do I knew that the answer to my problems could enter my mind just as easily if I went and met Trudy than if I didn't. And as an added bonus I could at least get out of sun and have a drink.

The saloon was open twenty-four hours a day but there was only other customer in the place. He acknowledged my arrival by tipping the brim of his hat at me and saying 'Howdy' as he made his way out. Given that I wasn't wearing a hat I just gave him a nod, said 'Hello' and then headed for the bar.

Trudy turned out to be a middle-aged, yet still attractive woman who wore clothes far cleaner that most I'd seen. Given that Goodsprings had a plentiful supply of clean and non-radioactive water meant that it was easier to wash your clothes here than it would be elsewhere.

She was also busy at the moment. It took me a moment to register what was going on, as I was still partly asleep, but soon it clicked and I remembered that in the game the Powder Gangers would be bothering this small town due to an issue they had with a man called Ringo. The gang banger confirmed this by mentioning Ringo by name and then threatening to burn down this entire settlement if he wasn't handed over.

Naturally I was against this course of action because I had no where else to go and in any case I hated bullies with a passion, and given that this was a place were you could get away with shooting a bully I could actually do something this band of thugs.

Of course they had guns too, which somewhat spoilt things, but if events played out here as they did in the game then it wouldn't be too hard to rally the townsfolk and aid them in defending themselves.

"We'll keep that in mind. Now if you're not going to buy something, get out".

Now there was a strong woman, but her bravery might not count for much if the gangster came back with his buddies and burned down the town as he had promised to do.

"What the hell is your problem?" asked the gang banger as he walked past me.

I resisted the urge to say anything back as I wasn't ready to pick a fight with a foe who could shoot back at me, so I simply took a seat at the bar and did my best to avoid the angry man.

Once I'd sat town Trudy made her hellos.

"We'll you've been causing quite a stir. Glad I finally got to met yeah. Welcome to the Prospector Saloon".

I could imagine that when a robot digs a man out of shallow grave who had been shot in the head, and then that man recovers it would indeed cause a bit of stir.

After ordering a beer, even though it was really to early the day to drink, I asked the bartender about the confrontation that she'd just had with the Powder Banger.

"It looks like our town got its self dragged into the middle of something we don't want anything to do with".

Well that was understandable. There was already enough going on around here to keep up at night and on top of all that there was a war to worry about.

"About a week ago, this trader, Ringo, comes into town. Survivor of an attack he says. Bad men after him, needs a place to hide".

If I recalled correctly that Powder lot had, and certainly still were, raiding caravans. That a lose end had gotten away wasn't that surprising and a witness to a crime is never a good thing for the criminals.

"We figured that he was just in shock, so we gave him a place to lie low. We didn't actually expect anyone to come after him".

Yes, well no good deed goes unpunished as they say.

"So where is this Ringo?" I inquired

At this point it was possible for me to either tell the dynamite lovers where Ringo was or I could even deliver the wanted man to them in the hopes of a reward.

There were however risks to that course of action. For starters they might double cross me and the good people of Goodsprings might not take kindly to me aiding such bad people. Besides such an action wouldn't solve the long term problem, it would be much better for everyone here if we dealt with the gang in a very permanent way.

"He's hold up at the abandoned gas station" Trudy told me after taking a moment to decide that I could be trusted.

I always wondered why the people on this side of the pond called it gas. It wasn't a gas it was liquid it just made no sense.

"So what are you going to do?" was my next question.

"Some of the others, like Sunny, will probably stand up for him if he asks for help. Which he hasn't".

Yeah they were nice folks, it was good I'd started here. If I'd started elsewhere I wouldn't of lasted an hour.

"Personally I hope he sneaks out of town one night and takes the Powder Gangers with him".

Sadly that was very much wishful thinking.

"Why not just get rid of the ganger when he come back" I asked next.

She didn't react well to that suggestion.

"You mean murder him".

I wouldn't call it murder as he was threatening to destroy the town and he had the explosives to do it, so I'd call proactive self-defence, but Trudy didn't see it that way.

"Even if Cobb is scum. He can bluster and threaten all he wants".

The problem there was that I didn't think that this was all bluster. The gang bangers were scum, and they were raiders and the world of Fallout the word raider could also mean: rapist, murderer and torturer.

"There must be something I can about it" I offered.

"If you were to get Ringo out of this mess, then you'd get a good rep around Goodsprings".

Now that was something worth getting given that I planned to stay here. People would be more generous towards me if I was seen as someone who would help them out when they needed me.

"Heck I'd even set you up with a discount".

Cheaper booze, now that was an intensive any man could understand.

"Of course helping Ringo out would also made the Powder Gangers mad".

Not if they were all dead.

"And they've got a lot of friends out there".

True, but if I knew my raiders they would rather go after a softer target than try to take on a town that would stand up for itself. Well they might if they had the numbers, but even then the selfishness of the gang's members would still discourage any attempts. At the very least we'd have more time to prepare for an attack.

As I headed out of the bar in order to find Ringo I saw that Sunny was over by the jukebox but she either didn't notice me or was very good at pretending that she didn't notice me. Either way it was disappointing.

The real Goodsprings, assuming any of this was actually real, was bigger in scale than the game displayed but that only convinced me that this was in fact real since if this was an illusion it should be more like my memories and the only thing it could be other than real was the imagination of a mind gone totally bonkers.

Once inside the petrol station I was suddenly faced with someone pointing at gun at me. Without thought I raised my hands in the universal sign for surrender and given that he didn't shoot me I guessed that it was accepted in universes that might be creations of my damaged brain or fictional to everyone but me.

"That's close enough. Who are you, and what do you want with me?".

Thinking fast I said.

"I'm not with the Powder Gangers if that's what you think".

He apologised without delay. Which made him a little too trusting in my opinion, but it also might mean that he was an okay bloke.

"Sorry about the gun. You just caught me off guard, that's all".

"Understandable" I said while lowering my hands.

And it was, I'd be nervous if I had dynamite using thugs after me.

"I wanted to talk about that Cobbs guy" I said in order to explain why I had entered his hideaway.

"Yeah I'm not too worried about dealing with him, but I'll have a much bigger problem when his friends show up".

While Ringo seemed on edge he didn't seem so scared really. He might actually fight if I asked him to.

"So why is he after you" I questioned.

I'd guessed but it was good to get solid facts when you could.

"My caravan was on it way back from California, heading to Vegas Branch when we got jumped".

That was an impressive trip given that California was a far distance from Las Vegas or at least it looked that way on the map.

"Not even a 'drop your weapons and hands up' before the bullets started flying. We put up a good fight, but there was too many of them".

How uncivilized, nothing like the highwaymen in the stories. Of course I doubted that the highwaymen in the stories were really that civilized either, but still just gunning people down. That was just plain rude.

"I took out a few of their friends, so I figure that there out for revenge".

Personally I doubted that raiders cared much for each other, but they might just want to make an example of some one who fought back in order to make others too afraid to do the same.

"So what are going to do?".

I imagined that he had been asking himself that question a lot, and while I did have an idea I didn't want it to be solely mine as people might begin to wonder why I had such ideas. There was no benefit to letting people know that I had knowledge that I shouldn't have.

"I'm going to lay low as long as I can, assuming the town doesn't throw me to the wolves" was the answer I got.

Which I didn't think would ever happen, but desperate people can do bad things for what they think is a good reason. Heck I would.

"Well maybe I can help" I offered, hoping that it would led him to come up with the idea to rally the townsfolk.

"We'd just end up sharing the same grave if it was just the two of us".

Given that I'd already been buried once this week I didn't want to press my luck, but it was seeming like I wouldn't have to.

"But if some of the other people in town, were also on board..".

Even if I hadn't known that he was going to suggest that it wouldn't of been hard to figure it out at this point and given that was already three steps ahead of the plan I knew exactly what to do next.

"I'll see what I can do" I told Ringo, while trying to sound reassuring.

"Start with Sunny Smiles, she's been friendlier than most of the folks around here".

That statement made me think that I hadn't been the only man to recently share a bed with Miss Smiles. I might of felt at least a little jealous or angry over such a thing but I didn't have enough of a connection to Sunny to care much about her personal life and given that I could sense just how lonely she was I wouldn't judge for sleeping around. Perhaps if I did indeed stick around for a while then I'd do something about her emotional state, but I had sort myself out first before I worried about other people.

Then I remembered that I was going to need Sunny's help now and that it was going to be a bit awkward to ask.

To delay I headed inside the general store and sold my side-arm, and then traded in all my caps just to get a set of leather armour that would fit me. At least it didn't cost me everything as I got to barter my spare bullets as well so I still had some caps left over.

Once that was done there was no reason to delay further and I entered the saloon.

"Hi there" greeted Sunny in a way that suited her name "sticking around Goodsprings for a while longer".

Another hard to answer question.

"Well... yeah. At least until I figure out what do with myself".

That was when something struck me from out of no-where and no it wasn't a thrown object sent my way by a drunk, it was in fact a thought.

The Followers of the Apocalypse

There was a group out there who could use my skills. I could read, write, do maths and I even had a basic understanding of science. That was a lot more than others had. The Followers could use someone of my skill.

Granted I didn't know much about healing, but I would be able to learn a lot faster that most could and there might be other useful knowledge somewhere in the grey matter that was my brain. I didn't know much about rebuilding a destroyed civilization, but I knew a little about lots of things that could be used to help people and that could add up to lot if used right. But again that was something to think about later, as right now there were people here who could use my help.

"Right so... I'm going to help Ringo take on the Powder Gangers. I could do with your help".

"Say no more. I'm in".

Huh, well that was easy enough. Hopefully this didn't mean she had a death wish or something.

"You know we could all die" I pointed out.

"Well that inspiring. You might want to keep your optimism to yourself if you try and recruit someone else".

That hadn't been the reason I'd said that but I decided to change the subject rather than end up putting my foot in my mouth. Sunny seemed to agree with that unspoken choice to change the subject.

"Joe Cobb talks about leaving us alone if we turn over Ringo. But I know his type. He and his friends will come after this town eventually".

I nodded my agreement with that assessment. She knew, as I did, that if Goodsprings simply gave in then the gangers would see the town as soft. That would only drive the TNT users into bolder actions.

"However between you, me and Ringo we aren't exactly a force to reckoned with".

Another good point.

"A lot of people around here look up to Trudy. If you could convince her to join us, some of the folks in town might decide to help out as well".

Trudy was a community leader, so that made sense.

"Oh and I know Easy Pete has a stockpile of dynamite somewhere and Chet just got a shipment of armour we could borrow, so talk to him".

Chet would be easier to convince than Pete if memory served but I had no choice but to ask both of them.

"Finally there's a good chance that we'll end up with extra holes in us".

Something to be avoided as I like the holes Sunny was currently blessed with, more would just be plain wrong.

"So if Doc Mitchell could cough up some extra stimpacks, that'd be great".

Trudy was just on the other side of the wall so it was logical to start with her if only because it meant less distance to travel.

"So you're planning on taking on Joe Cobbs gang".

Apparently it was either not a very thick wall, that or I was very predictable to this people.

"It's a big risk, and I suppose you have to do what you think is right".

I was starting to feel as if I had some sort of always on Jedi Mind Trick thing going on here.

"You could help...".

I didn't have to put much effort

"I was planning on sitting this one out, but for some reason I can't help but like you".

High charisma stat too?

"Let me have a word with a few other folks, and I'll see if I can't round up some more bodies for your militia".

Lady Killer perk, maybe?

My next stop was the store. Sunny was right we would need armour, and guns. Lots of guns.

"Yeah I need supplies to help with the Powder Gangers".

This time my magic didn't seem to work

"Now hold on I didn't voted to take on the Gangers. That's a thousand cap investment your talking about".

Did everyone around know what I was going to ask them in advance or did small town gossip actually faster than radio waves?

"Then let them burn down the town. I'm sure that I'll be good for business".

Now I would see if a well made point could actually the opinion of a race as stubborn as the Americans.

"You made your point. I can provide people with extra armour and ammo. I just hope its worth it".

I resisted the urge to point out that if he was dead it wouldn't matter as I didn't want him to take that as any sort of threat.

"Oh and I'll be guarding the store while all this is going on. I have to put my interests first, you understand".

Giving that he was already risking his livelihood I decided not to push for more aid and instead I simply thanked him for giving everyone some armour.

Since I knew that Easy Pete would be the hardest to convince I went to see the doctor next and while walking I wondered if I could get the people of Goodsprings to make me sheriff, because they really did need someone around to protect this town.

When I got to the good doctor's it turned out that he had been hoping that I would drop as apparently another Courier, as that was what he thought I was, had dropped a package for me. It was a most curious thing, a box which looked like something that should be back on my world rather than this rubbish dump of a reality.

Opening it I discovered a seat of combat armour. Which was much better than the leather junk I was wearing so at once I swapped it over. I also found a laser rifle, and that was just so awesome, along with a matching laser pistol with some cells for both of the guns. Under all that was a rucksack, that was filled with spare clothes, a long black coat, a lot of vacuum sealed food, along with some bottles of water, yet more power cells and a combat knife. I even had a nice leather belt that would make it much easier to carry the weapons.

"No delivery order" I said to myself as I examined the box and its contents for the second time.

As important as this package was there was nothing to clue into where it came or how the person sending it to had known where I could be found. The doc didn't know either so I decided to get back to the matter at hand and decided to worry about this later. But I did take the time to check out the laser rifle as I would need that.

With that done I turned my attention to the doctor and made my request.

"Seems like wherever I go its always the same. Folks just never leave each other alone".

Sad, but true.

"I'm not much good in a fight, with my bum leg. And my supplies are scarce. But I'll give you whatever I can spare".

At least that went well, but I didn't think that the next part would go so well.

It didn't take me long to find Easy Pete as he normally either hung out in front of saloon or he could be found inside it.

I went to sit next to him and greeted me with a friendly 'hey' before we got down to business.

"Too dangerous. Gonna kill all yourselves if I let you touch it. Better leave it buried – safer that way'.

I didn't think that I would be able to change his mind but I would try. I also made a mental note that his TNT was buried as it might be nearby. If anything happened to be Pete, then it might be worth while trying to recover his explosives in the future.

"Too dangerous sorry. Blow yourself up, blow your neighbour up, blow the whole town up".

I decided in the end that he was right. There wasn't time to train us how to use it, so we would just have to make do with guns.

With that dead end I knew it was time to get back to Ringo. The sun would be setting soon and I got the feeling they would attack them if only because it was easy to arrange an attack using the setting or rising of the sun when you didn't have time pieces that could be relied upon.

"So what's going on? Did Sunny agree to help us?".

"Yeah she did" I replied

"Rather eager too" I added too softly to be heard.

I then went on to tell him that I gathered more support and to that he said.

"Then I guess we're ready to go".

Before I could ask him if had any last second ideas, Sunny entered the petrol station.

"Time to look alive, the Powder Gangers are here to play".

Oh joy.

"How many are there" asked Ringo.

"At least six, Joe Cobb included. They look pretty mean".

Six, that wasn't too bad.

"Then let's go welcome them" I suggested.

"I'll be set up by the store" Sunny told us "Let's hope that the gang doesn't make that far".

Although if they did, then at least Chet might get involved which would add to our numbers.

Sunny, Ringo and I, raced out of the closed business and headed for the still open ones as fast as our legs would carry us. I got all the way down to the saloon before I saw them.

There were indeed six of them but only half of them had any armour or ranged weapons, perhaps this would be easier that I had thought.

We all opened fire. One of the half-naked Powder Gangers dropped almost right away, he didn't even cry out. Then one of the gang bangers who bothered to wear clothes also fell to the ground.

The gunfire was deafening and I was in front of the groups spraying laser fire at the bad guys so I didn't even know if anyone on my side had been hit. It was total chaos, which was made worse when a frag grenade exploded and in response I simple held the trigger of my weapon which seemed to fill the air with laser beams. Amazingly this tactic worked the rest of the crooks dropped, aside from Cobb who ran.

I knew that I couldn't let him get away, as while it might be good if word got out about this fight. I knew that Cobb would seek vengeance if he was allowed to live so I held my breath, dropped to one knee, took aim and then gunned him down as he ran for his life

"I owe you a huge favour for this" said Ringo once the fighting had died down Here – these are... Crimson Caravan funds, but I know they'll understand once I explain things".

For his sake I hoped so.

"I'll stick around for a bit longer, but I'll be gone in a few days. If you ever visit New Vegas, look me up a Crimson Caravan camp".

I was pleased he was leaving, not because I wanted him gone, but because I didn't think it was right for him to be hiding away from the world. Ringo needed to get on with his life, and it gave me a nice feeling to know that I helped do that.

Once I'd looted the bodies, which was a nasty thing to do but I needed the caps, I headed inside the bar to get a drink. I still need a place to sleep but I figured that Trudy would know if there was an empty house around here.

"I'm glad that business is over" remarked the bartender "I like it when Goodsprings is nice and quiet".

Hopefully it would be for some time to come.

I brought a bottle of scotch, as I could now afford it, and then went to a table so I could enjoy it. To my surprise Sunny came over to take to me.

"That'll teach the Powder Gangers to avoid Goodsprings in the future".

I poured a second serving of the strong spirit into a clean looking and then made a quick toast.

"You don't need to get me drunk if you want back in bed" said the red head.

Guess I did have a bed for the night. I'd figure out something more permanent in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fallout Gothic – New Vegas – Part 3**

**Goodsprings. Mojave Wastelands. **

Who knew that killing people could make a girl so horny. I sure hadn't but it had certainly got Sunny in the mood, so much so that we were even having morning sex. I'd pinned her beneath me, as that was what she liked, and was slowly driving my cock in and out of her as she wasn't quite wet enough to get pounded the way I liked. However she soon would be and then I would have my fun.

She'd been far more wild last night and more imaginative, so by now it was natural that she wouldn't feel like riding me while screaming my name but that didn't mean that she really wasn't into what we were doing now.

After a bit more kissing of her neck and a few gentle bites she was finally ready, so I went to work. With one quick movement I inserted my all of my cock inside the red head's soaking-wet cunt and started fucking her at pace that pleased me and didn't seem to be too bad for her either. Then stopping for a moment I slowly pulled back, inch by inch removing my cock from her snatch, until finally only the tip is still inside. Then grabbing Red head's hips tightly, I could feel the little witch brace herself as I slammed forwards and with one giant thrust, I pushed my entire cock back in. Sunny panted and moaned as I kept up the thrusting, while also repeating the deep thrusts every so often, she couldn't talk but she didn't need to in order to let me know what was enjoying this as much as I was.

Even though Sunny had already cum thanks to my earlier slower pace, I kept on screwing her for at least another half an hour; or so it felt as without it a watch it was impossible to tell and its not exactly easy to keep track of time when your screwing. Still I succeeded in making the red head come again before I finally shot my load deep inside her cunt. For a while I'd had to slow down again, but thankfully she hadn't gotten too sore or tired enough to want to stop.

With my effort spent so soon, which I blamed on the the lack of sleep, rather than any fault with me, I rolled off the hot, sweaty girl and for once I was the first one to get up. Not that I wanted to leave, but there was something that I wanted to do today.

I had a good supply of caps now, thanks to the reward Ringo had given me and what I had been salvage from the dead Powder Gangers, but I knew would need more if I was going to keep myself fed.

Also I needed some sort of shelter as I couldn't rely on Sunny hospitably, she had given no sign that she wanted a more committed relationship. Not that I had expected any really as we hadn't known each other for that long and I didn't have any firm long term plans for us either. In fact I didn't even know what I would be doing tomorrow so how could I possible make a commit to Sunny. Still at least I knew what I would be doing today.

I started to get dressed putting on the clean clothes that had been sent to me as part of care package while Miss Smiles went back to sleep. I guessed she must of figured that I'd be back because she still had a big smile on her face despite the fact that I was leaving, and she was right to think that as I would be back if given the chance.

Amazingly the armour I'd been sent, and was now wearing, was rather comfortable considering how hot the day light hours were in these parts but even if it hadn't been I still would of worn the black suit as this was a very dangerous world. I also carried my laser rifle and had a combat knife strapped to my belt next to my laser pistol so I felt to deal with any of the threats I might encounter.

It was a short trip to the old school house that I intended to make my home and despite the early hour there were already a lot of people outside doing there work. Goodsprings was more than just a place you could stop at in order get clean water when you either leaving or heading to Vegas it was also a farming community.

There were some plants that could only withstand the intense heat and lack of rainwater but they actually thrived in it. No one ate these plants, rather they were used the way Sunny had down me how to use them, to create healing powders and other remedies.

On the way over the schoolhouse I ran into the robot cowboy who made his hellos and asked when I wasn't chasing after fancy pants.

In reply I gave the machine an answer that expressed my complete lack of interest in Benny and whatever it was he was getting up to.

Really I didn't care much at all. Sure Benny had shot me, but it was just a memory and it was one that I had no emotional connection to as if it had happened to someone else.

Besides the last thing I wanted was to go chasing after a guy who wanted me dead. Then there was the fact that even if I did kill Benny that would only led me to getting involved with Mr House and the war between the Legion and the NCR.

If I did go down that very long and very dangerous road the only thing I knew for certain is that I wouldn't side with the Legion as they were a load of assholes to say the least. Still I had consider the possibility that the Roman wannabes could win the coming war if Mr House didn't have his upgraded robots. But really House was just the lesser of two evils and the NCR wasn't much better as they were still trying to force their way of life onto other people, and a lot of people didn't want to live under NCR rule.

Of course there was always the chance that I could take House's place and end up leading an independent New Vegas. But while such a future was an incising one I just didn't think that I could bring it about. I wasn't a leader and I didn't think that I had the skills to bet both the Legion and the NCR even with an army of robots.

Realising that I actually did care, but also that I didn't want to care, I said my goodbyes the artificial cowboy and headed into the schoolhouse hoping that the work of salvaging the ruins would distract me from my concerns about the future of this land.

After blasting a few overgrown bugs with my laser rifle, an act that did more damage to the floor than the insects even if I succeed in killing them, I started to look around and to plan what I could do with this place.

One of the first things I found was a computer and I decided to check out the local technology. A handy magazine told me enough about the operating systems of the local computers that I was able to attempt some hacking.

The password turned out to the theatre and all the computer did was unlock a nearby safe, but I since I had now had access to the machine I figured that I could it for keeping notes if nothing else. There was no internet to log onto in any case and it didn't have any games either so there was nothing else I could do with the computer.

As for the safe that turned out to be filled some more caps as well as a collection of drugs, some radaway and some stimpacks. Clearly this had been someone's stash rather than anything the school's staff would of kept here. Which made sense to me as anything of value that had been here when the bombs had fell would of long ago been taken. What was in the safe now must left behind from the last person who had used the schoolhouse as shelter.

I took out the drugs, but left the radaway and the stimpacks in the safe before using the computer to relock it. I planned to use sell the drugs and to keep the medicine for myself.

After looking around some more I began to see how I could best make use of this space.

I'd likely end up sending the better part of the day simply cleaning the place out. I had no need for the many broken chairs and desks that would of only been usable by children, and given that there were no kids here in Goodsprings there was no point in fixing them. It wasn't as if they needed a school in these parts so I felt no guilt in gutting the entire place.

Instead I started to take the junk outside so it could be stacked into a bonfire. I did the same with the broken junk, but not the lockers as I figured that I could that I could hammer them back into shape and they were metal no wood and thus wouldn't burn.

Once that was done I did an inventory. I quickly decided what it was I would sell and what I would keep. There wasn't much of either once I had cleared out the junk, but I made more than enough caps from the stash I had found to buy some cleaning supplies.

As I had predicted it did take me most of the day to clean the place out and I had stop around midday both to get something to eat and because the heat was to intense for me to work in.

Thinking on I found it incredible that I avoided heat stroke as coming from a much cooler climate than the natives I just wasn't use to the heat, and I found myself missing rain.

At least there was plenty of clean water in Goodsprings and so I was able to wash my dirty clothes, and take a bath although that didn't involve lugging a lot of water to a bathtub that was outside my new home, but the work was worth it as I had gotten really filthy during the course of the day's work.

By the evening the schoolhouse was as clean as it was going to get and while I had been forced to dump some of the shelves out the back I still had plenty of bare surfaces to display my few treasures. I didn't have much to show off, just a Nuka Cola model truck, a baseball and catcher's mitt, Lastly I had a collection of booze that I brought using my discount and I had even gotten my hands on some clean plastic glasses.

The few intact lockers now contained my weapons and my clothes, as well as few other odds and ends like my spare energy cells. Along with my growing collection of fission batteries, sensor modules and even some conductors. I didn't have any use for these things but I figured that one day I might so I had traded my old clothes, as they were very suited for the environment, for them and Chet had given me a good deal for them.

By the time evening had come around I was outside in a recovered deck chair, watching as the big pile of junk I'd put together started to burn. The heat made by this fire was so intense that it allowed me to ignore how cold it got in desert at night.

As I sat drinking something that I shouldn't be drinking due to the threat of dehydration I couldn't help but think about the future.

Without his robots the coming war would be between the Legion and the NCR, or as the locals called them 'the Bull and the Bear'.

If the NCR won things might not change that much. Sure we'd all end up paying taxes to a far off government and there would be NCR patrols on the roads, but if that was all then it wouldn't be so bad. In fact we might all end up being safer than we had been before.

But what if the Legion won?

Well we'd all be enslaved at best and at worse killed. I might make it as a legionnaire as at least I could shoot well enough, but the women around here would be slaves and I could up being lashed to a cross.

Given that thought it be better to go down fighting or maybe just side with the NCR. I could sign up with them as they could make use of my shooting skills as well as the legion could.

Truth be told I would rather stay here in Goodsprings, but I was starting to realise that this wasn't an option at least not if I wanted to avoid being forced into an empire.

What if I did sign up with Mr House?

I'd have to do his bidding, but at least I'd get some nice digs and at least I'd be surrounded by heavily armed robots. That was a big positive in my books as having a small but well armed army acting to protect me was about the only thing that would make me feel safe in this hell-hole.

There was even a chance that I could kill House and bring in Yes Man to control his robots for me. Then I would be a position that would allow to shape the Mojave Wastelands as I'd see fit.

This place could do with a benevolent dictator. One who had both the vision, the means and the will to do what had to be done. Which would mostly involved kicking both the Legion and the NCR out, and maybe wiping out a few of the gangs as well.

Then there were the other problems, such as the raiders, the feral ghouls, the mutants and the dangerous animals. It would indeed taken an army of heavily armed robots to even deal with half of this problems the people around here had to deal with.

Still while it seemed like a monumental task, I was starting to realise that at the very least I had to try. My only other choice was to stay here and hope that the Legion didn't win, because if they did then things would not end well for me.

This realisation meant that everything I'd done today had been rather pointless, but at least all my time here in Goodsprings hadn't be a total waste. I had made a few friends who were quite willing to give me a discount for their goods. I'd gotten myself a home, assuming someone didn't take it from me while I was gone, and I even had a contact within the Crimson Caravan.

Surprisingly no one had been drawn to the bonfire, and Sunny had been expecting me to leave so it wasn't surprising that she hadn't sought me out so for a change I slept along on a just a mat that made the schoolhouse's floor only slightly less uncomfortable.

My last thoughts of the day were that by this time tomorrow I would have either have gotten myself killed or I'd be spending the night in Primm.


End file.
